UMD Libraries Expands Researchers’ Access to Big Data

University of Maryland Libraries is now among 10 Big Ten Academic Alliance libraries to join the Collaborative Archive & Data Research Environment (CADRE), which provides researchers access to secure, high-quality data on academic research, publication trends and patents in all knowledge domains.

Maryland-affiliated researchers will now be able to use CADRE’s highest level of data- and text-mining services for major datasets such as Web of Science, Microsoft Academic Graph and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office data.

"Improving our data services and curation for the University of Maryland community features heavily in our new strategic plan," said Adriene Lim, dean of University Libraries. "In our initiatives aimed at improving the Libraries' ability to meet researchers' data needs, joining CADRE and leveraging the collective wisdom and work of BTAA colleagues and supporting existing technological solutions are logical and effective next steps."

Joining CADRE’s founding community of academic libraries allows Maryland to share the costs associated with providing text- and data-mining services for big datasets to UMD researchers.

“At its core, CADRE is a community effort to solve the expensive problem of making big data accessible to researchers. Without collaboration, there is no CADRE,” said CADRE Project Co-Director Jamie Wittenberg. “We are thrilled to welcome the University of Maryland on board and look forward to working with Maryland researchers and librarians to advance our development and improve our service offerings.”